The fire was started on June 22 by unknown human cause.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
The fire was started on June 22 by unknown human cause.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 2:54 PM PST, 52 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
354 PM PDT Sat Jun 22 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
A dry cold front on Sunday will create elevated to critical fire
weather concerns over portions of central and eastern Washington
with widespread breezy to windy conditions. This will likely be
followed by temperatures cooling back down towards normal values
by Monday. Another warm up arrives on Tuesday and Wednesday before
the next weather system arrives on Thursday.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today - Temperatures have warmed in the 80s and 90s despite cloud
cover associated with an incoming trough. Folks in the Methow valley
have even reported some light rain. Tonight will stay relatively
mild compared to lately with lows in the 50s and low 60s ahead of a
dry front passage.
Tomorrow - Have upgraded our fire weather watches to red flag
warnings in the Columbia Basin, Spokane area, Palouse, and Snake
river area for critical fire weather conditions tomorrow afternoon
thanks to a dry front passage. Did not upgrade Wenatchee area or the
Waterville Plateau as modified marine layer air will likely keep
them above critical thresholds. MOS/raw model guidance continues to
show dry and windy conditions from Moses Lake to Spokane (sustained
winds 15 to 25 mph gusting up to 40 mph; relative humidity 12 to
20%). Inversion strength at the top of the boundary layer will be
crucial for how warm and dry we get tomorrow. Temperature spread is
very large between models but windy conditions usually means
effective mixing which means warmer temperatures which also means
lower relative humidity. /Butler
Monday through Friday: The start of the week will bring a zonal flow
pattern with an approaching Gulf of Alaska Low. The Low is expected
to pass on Wednesday. It will be followed by a ridge pattern to
close out the week. For Monday and Tuesday, the region can expect
cooler temps, behind Sundays cold front, with highs reaching into
the 70s to low 80s. These will be close to the season normals.
Temperatures will rise slowly ahead of the Low. Most areas should
expect highs into the 80s and low 90s by Wednesday. The highs on
Wednesday could change depending on the timing of the Low as the
ensembles are showing quite a spread between the runs. It will
bring a cooler and wetter airmass. Highs to close out the week will
be on the cooler side with highs in the 70s and low 80s.
The low on Wednesday will bring a drop in temperatures but not a lot
of precip chances. The best chances will mainly be over the
Cascades, northern mountains, and the North Idaho Panhandle. These
areas will have shower chances increase through the end of the week.
There is a 10-15% chance of and isolated thunderstorm during
Thursday and Friday afternoons. /JDC
&&
.AVIATION...
00z TAFS: This evening and tonight, winds will be light at 10
knots or less under thin high clouds above 10k feet AGL. Sunday,
winds will become breezy and gusty out of the southwest with a dry
cold front passage.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS:
High confidence in VFR conditions through 00z Monday.
-----------------------
Confidence descriptors:
Low - Less than a 30 percent chance
Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance
High - Greater than a 70 percent chance
For additional probabilistic information for NWS Spokane airports,
please refer to the Aviation Dashboard on our webpage:
https:/www.weather.gov/otx/avndashboard
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 61 82 47 77 50 84 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coeur d'Alene 59 80 47 74 49 81 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pullman 58 79 46 74 49 82 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lewiston 66 91 55 84 56 91 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colville 51 79 41 77 43 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sandpoint 55 78 45 72 45 79 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kellogg 62 77 50 72 51 81 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Moses Lake 60 84 48 82 51 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 62 78 52 81 55 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Omak 58 84 48 81 52 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...Red Flag Warning from 1 PM to 8 PM PDT Sunday for Colville
Reservation (Zone 702)-Eastern Columbia Basin -Palouse -
Spokane Area (Zone 708)-Lower Palouse -Snake River (Zone
709)-Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707).
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Gold Creek fire started on June 22 from unknown human causes. It was contained on June 28. It burned 278 acres of tall grass, timber, and brush. Cost is estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, June 2024
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1195924.